Overview

This guide will walk through the complete process of business verification within the Dwolla API, including creating a business verified Customer, handling verification statuses, adding beneficial owners, and certifying beneficial ownership. A business verified Customer represents a business that intends to send or receive funds on your platform. In any transaction, at least one party—either the sender or the receiver—must complete the identity verification process as outlined in this guide. The business verification process consists of the following key steps:

Creating a Business Verified Customer

Learn how to create a business verified Customer in Dwolla, including required information for different business types and how to submit the initial verification request.

Handling Business Verified Customer Statuses

Understand the possible verification statuses, how to handle retry and document requests, and what to do if additional information is needed for verification.

Adding Beneficial Owner(s)

Add and verify beneficial owners for your business Customer, including required information and how to check their verification status.

Certify Beneficial Ownership

Certify that all beneficial owner information is correct to fulfill compliance requirements and enable your business Customer to send funds.

Key Terminology

Account Admin - The representative creating the business verified Customer on behalf of the business and Controller.
Controller - Any natural individual who holds significant responsibilities to control, manage, or direct a company or other corporate entity (i.e. CEO, CFO, General Partner, President, etc). A company may have more than one controller, but only one controller’s information must be collected.
Beneficial owner - Any natural person who, directly or indirectly, owns 25% or more of the equity interests of the company.
Beneficial ownership certification - An action taken by the Account Admin to confirm that the information provided is correct.
EIN (Employer Identification Number) - A unique identification number that is assigned to a business entity so that they can easily be identified by the Internal Revenue Service.

Step 1 - Creating a Business Verified Customer

Creating a business verified Customer will require you to provide information about the business entity as well as a Controller, if required.

Business Verified Customer Quick Guide

Business Structure	Dwolla `businessType` Value	Controller Required?	Add Beneficial Owners?	Certify Beneficial Ownership?
Sole proprietorships	`soleProprietorship`	No	No (exempt)	No (exempt)
Unincorporated association	`soleProprietorship`	No	No (exempt)	No (exempt)
Trust	`soleProprietorship`	No	No (exempt)	No (exempt)
Corporation	`corporation`	Yes	Yes (if owns 25%+)	Yes
Publicly traded corporations	`corporation`	Yes	No (exempt)	Yes
Non-profits	`corporation` or `llc`	Yes	No (exempt)	Yes
LLCs	`llc`	Yes	Yes (if owns 25%+)	Yes
Partnerships, LP’s, LLP’s	`partnership`	Yes	Yes (if owns 25%+)	Yes

There are two types of business verified Customers that you can create, based on if they are required to add information on the Controller or not.

Create a business verified Customer with no Controller

Follow these steps to create a business verified Customer where "businessType": "soleProprietorship"

Events

As a developer, you can expect these events to be triggered when a business verified Customer is successfully created and systematically verified:

customer_created
customer_verified

What parties are identity verified by Dwolla?

Business Type	Business Entity	Controller	Business Owner
Sole Proprietorship	Identity verified	N/A	Identity verified

In order to create a business verified Customer with businessType of soleProprietorship, Dwolla only requires information to verify the identity of the business and the Account Admin.

Sole Propreietorship - Request parameters

Parameter	Required	Type	Description
firstName	yes	string	The legal first name of the Business Owner. Must be ≤ 50 characters and cannot include special characters [<>="`!?%~${}\].
lastName	yes	string	The legal last name of the Business Owner. Must be ≤ 50 characters and cannot include special characters [<>="`!?%~${}\].
email	yes	string	Email address of the Business Owner. Must be a valid email format (e.g., `example@domain.com`).
ipAddress	no	string	IP address of the registering user is recommended.
type	yes	string	Must be `business`.
dateOfBirth	yes	string	The date of birth of the Business Owner. Format: `YYYY-MM-DD` Age Range: Must be between 18 to 125 years.
ssn	yes	string	Last four or full 9 digits of the Business Owner’s Social Security Number. Must contain only numbers (e.g., `1234` or `123456789`).
address1	yes	string	Street number and street name of the business’ physical address. Must be ≤ 50 characters, contain no special characters [<>="`!?%~${}\], and cannot be a PO Box.
address2	no	string	Apartment, floor, suite, bldg. # of business’ physical address. Must be ≤ 50 characters and cannot include special characters [<>="`!?%~${}\].
city	yes	string	City of the business’ physical address. Must be ≤ 50 characters and cannot contain numbers or special characters [<>="`!?%~${}\].
state	yes	string	US Persons - Must be a valid two-letter US state/territory abbreviation (e.g., `CA`). Reference: US Postal Service guide.
postalCode	yes	string	Business’ US ZIP Code. Must be either 5 digits (e.g., `50314`) or ZIP+4 (e.g., `50314-1234`).
businessName	yes	string	Registered business name. Must be ≤ 255 characters and cannot include special characters [<>="`!?%~${}\].
doingBusinessAs	no	string	Preferred business name – also known as a fictitious name or assumed name. Must be ≤ 255 characters and cannot include special characters [<>="`!?%~${}\].
businessType	yes	string	Business structure. Must be `soleProprietorship`.
businessClassification	yes	string	The industry classification ID corresponding to the Customer’s business. Reference: Business Classifications.
ein	no	string	Employer Identification Number (EIN). Optional for `soleProprietorship` business Customers. Must be 9 numeric characters (e.g., `123456789`).
website	no	string	Business’ website. Must be a valid URL (e.g., `https://www.domain.com`).
phone	no	string	Business’s 10-digit phone number. Must contain only numbers (e.g., `3334447777`). No hyphens, spaces, or separators.

Sole Propreietorship - Request and response

POST https://api-sandbox.dwolla.com/customers
Content-Type: application/vnd.dwolla.v1.hal+json
Accept: application/vnd.dwolla.v1.hal+json
Authorization: Bearer 0Sn0W6kzNic+oWhDbQcVSKLRUpGjIdl/YyrHqrDDoRnQwE7Q

{
    "firstName": "Business",
    "lastName": "Owner",
    "email": "solePropBusiness@email.com",
    "ipAddress": "143.156.7.8",
    "type": "business",
    "dateOfBirth": "1980-01-31",
    "ssn": "6789",
    "address1": "99-99 33rd St",
    "city": "Some City",
    "state": "NY",
    "postalCode": "11101",
    "businessClassification": "9ed3f670-7d6f-11e3-b1ce-5404a6144203",
    "businessType": "soleProprietorship",
    "businessName":"Jane Corp",
    "ein":"00-0000000"
}

HTTP/1.1 201 Created
Location: https://api-sandbox.dwolla.com/customers/62c3aa1b-3a1b-46d0-ae90-17304d60c3d5

Create a business verified Customer with controller

Events

As a developer, you can expect these events to be triggered when a business verified Customer is successfully created and systematically verified:

customer_created
customer_verified

What parties are identity verified by Dwolla?

Business Type	Business Entity	Controller	Account Admin
Corporation	Identity verified	Identity verified	Not identity verified
Partnership	Identity verified	Identity verified	Not identity verified
LLC	Identity verified	Identity verified	Not identity verified

For all other businessType’s other than soleProprietorship, your Customer will need to provide more information for verification. In order to create a business verified Customer with a controller, Dwolla requires information on an account admin, the business, and the controller. Your business verified Customer account admin will act as the agent signing up on behalf of the business. When going through the Customer creation flow, your business verified Customer account admin will only need information on one controller to successfully complete the signup flow.

Corporation, partnership, llc - Request parameters

Parameter	Required	Type	Description
firstName	yes	string	The legal first name of the Account Admin or individual signing up the business verified Customer. Must be ≤ 50 characters and cannot include special characters [<>="`!?%~${}\].
lastName	yes	string	The legal last name of the Account Admin or individual signing up the business verified Customer. Must be ≤ 50 characters and cannot include special characters [<>="`!?%~${}\].
email	yes	string	Email address of the Account Admin creating and managing the Customer account. Must be a valid email format (e.g., `example@domain.com`).
ipAddress	no	string	IP address of the registering user. Recommended but not required.
type	yes	string	Must be `business`.
address1	yes	string	Street number and street name of the business’ physical address. Must be ≤ 50 characters, contain no special characters [<>="`!?%~${}\], and cannot be a PO Box.
address2	no	string	Apartment, floor, suite, bldg. # of business’ physical address. Must be ≤ 50 characters and cannot include special characters [<>="`!?%~${}\].
city	yes	string	City of the business’ physical address. Must be ≤ 50 characters and cannot contain numbers or special characters [<>="`!?%~${}\].
state	yes	string	US Persons - Must be a valid two-letter US state/territory abbreviation (e.g., `CA`). Reference: US Postal Service guide.
postalCode	yes	string	Business’ US ZIP Code. Must be either 5 digits (e.g., `50314`) or ZIP+4 (e.g., `50314-1234`).
businessName	yes	string	Registered business name. Must be ≤ 255 characters and cannot include special characters [<>="`!?%~${}\].
doingBusinessAs	no	string	Preferred business name – also known as a fictitious name or assumed name. Must be ≤ 255 characters and cannot include special characters [<>="`!?%~${}\].
businessType	yes	string	Business structure. Accepted values: `corporation`, `llc`, `partnership`.
businessClassification	yes	string	The industry classification ID corresponding to the Customer’s business. Reference: Business Classifications.
ein	yes	string	Employer Identification Number (EIN). Must be 9 numeric characters (e.g., `123456789`). Note: If `businessType` is `soleProprietorship`, then `ein` and `controller` can be omitted.
website	no	string	Business’ website. Must be a valid URL (e.g., `https://www.domain.com`).
phone	no	string	Business’s 10-digit phone number. Must contain only numbers (e.g., `3334447777`). No hyphens, spaces, or separators.
controller	conditional	object	A Controller JSON object. Required unless `businessType` is `soleProprietorship`.

Controller JSON object

Parameter	Required	Type	Description
firstName	yes	string	The legal first name of the Controller. Must be ≤ 50 characters and cannot include special characters [<>="`!?%~${}\].
lastName	yes	string	The legal last name of the Controller. Must be ≤ 50 characters and cannot include special characters [<>="`!?%~${}\].
title	yes	string	Job title of the Controller. Examples: `Chief Financial Officer`, `Managing Director`. Must be ≤ 100 characters and cannot contain numbers or special characters [<>="`!?%~${}\].
dateOfBirth	yes	string	Controller’s date of birth in `YYYY-MM-DD` format. Must be between 18 to 125 years old.
ssn	conditional	string	Last four digits or full 9-digit Social Security Number (SSN). Required for US residents. If omitted, a passport object is required.
address	yes	object	A Controller Address JSON Object containing the Controller’s full physical address. Reference: Controller Address JSON Object.
passport	conditional	object	A Controller Passport JSON Object. Required for non-US individuals. Includes Passport Identification Number and Country. Reference: Controller Passport JSON Object.

Controller address JSON object

Parameter	Required	Type	Description
address1	yes	string	Street number and name of Controller’s physical address. Must be ≤ 50 characters. Cannot contain special characters [<>="`!?%~${}\]. PO Boxes are not allowed.
address2	no	string	Apartment, floor, suite, or building number of Controller’s physical address. Must be ≤ 50 characters. Cannot contain special characters [<>="`!?%~${}\]. PO Boxes are not allowed.
address3	no	string	Third line of the address, if applicable. Must be ≤ 50 characters. Cannot contain special characters [<>="`!?%~${}\]. PO Boxes are not allowed.
city	yes	string	City name of Controller’s physical address. Must be ≤ 50 characters. Cannot contain numbers or special characters [<>="`!?%~${}\].
stateProvinceRegion	yes	string	US Persons - Two-letter US state abbreviation. See the US Postal Service guide. Non-US Persons - Two-letter ISO abbreviation for state, province, or region. See the ISO guide. If a country does not have a two-letter abbreviation for a state/province, use the country’s two-letter ISO code instead. Must be uppercase (e.g., `CA`).
postalCode	conditional	string	US Persons - Must provide a 5-digit ZIP code (e.g., `12345`) or ZIP+4 code (e.g., `12345-6789`). Non-US Persons - Optional. Can include alphanumeric postal codes where applicable.
country	yes	string	Two-letter ISO country code (e.g., `US` for United States, `CA` for Canada). Reference the ISO country codes list.

Controller passport JSON object

Parameter	Required	Type	Description
number	conditional	string	Required if the controller is a non-US person and does not have a Social Security Number (SSN). Must be ≤ 255 characters.
country	conditional	string	Country where the passport was issued. Must be a two-letter ISO country code (e.g., `GB` for United Kingdom, `IN` for India).

Once you submit this request, Dwolla will perform some initial validation to check for formatting issues such as an invalid date of birth, invalid email format, etc. If successful, the response will be a HTTP 201/Created with the URL of the new Customer resource contained in the Location header.

Business with Controller - Request and response

POST https://api-sandbox.dwolla.com/customers
Content-Type: application/vnd.dwolla.v1.hal+json
Accept: application/vnd.dwolla.v1.hal+json
Authorization: Bearer 0Sn0W6kzNic+oWhDbQcVSKLRUpGjIdl/YyrHqrDDoRnQwE7Q

{
    "firstName": "Account",
    "lastName": "Admin",
    "email": "accountAdmin@email.com",
    "ipAddress": "143.156.7.8",
    "type": "business",
    "address1": "99-99 33rd St",
    "city": "Some City",
    "state": "NY",
    "postalCode": "11101",
    "controller": {
        "firstName": "John",
        "lastName": "Controller",
        "title": "CEO",
        "ssn": "6789",
        "dateOfBirth": "1980-01-31",
        "address": {
            "address1": "1749 18th st",
            "address2": "apt 12",
            "city": "Des Moines",
            "stateProvinceRegion": "IA",
            "postalCode": "50266",
            "country": "US"
        }
    },
    "businessClassification": "9ed3f670-7d6f-11e3-b1ce-5404a6144203",
    "businessType": "llc",
    "businessName":"Jane Corp",
    "ein":"00-0000000"
}

HTTP/1.1 201 Created
Location: https://api-sandbox.dwolla.com/customers/62c3aa1b-3a1b-46d0-ae90-17304d60c3d5

Check the status of the business Customer

You have created a business verified Customer; however, the successful creation of a business verified Customer doesn’t necessarily mean the Customer account is verified. Businesses may need to provide additional information to help verify their identity. It is important to check the status of the business Customer to determine if additional documentation is needed.

Request and response

GET https://api-sandbox.dwolla.com/customers/62c3aa1b-3a1b-46d0-ae90-17304d60c3d5
Accept: application/vnd.dwolla.v1.hal+json
Authorization: Bearer pBA9fVDBEyYZCEsLf/wKehyh1RTpzjUj5KzIRfDi0wKTii7DqY

...

{
    "_links": {
        "verify-beneficial-owners": {
            "href": "https://api-sandbox.dwolla.com/customers/d56c07fa-3832-427d-bb88-a9eb2d375c14/beneficial-owners",
            "type": "application/vnd.dwolla.v1.hal+json",
            "resource-type": "beneficial-owner"
        },
        "beneficial-owners": {
            "href": "https://api-sandbox.dwolla.com/customers/d56c07fa-3832-427d-bb88-a9eb2d375c14/beneficial-owners",
            "type": "application/vnd.dwolla.v1.hal+json",
            "resource-type": "beneficial-owner"
        },
        "deactivate": {
            "href": "https://api-sandbox.dwolla.com/customers/d56c07fa-3832-427d-bb88-a9eb2d375c14",
            "type": "application/vnd.dwolla.v1.hal+json",
            "resource-type": "customer"
        },
        "self": {
            "href": "https://api-sandbox.dwolla.com/customers/d56c07fa-3832-427d-bb88-a9eb2d375c14",
            "type": "application/vnd.dwolla.v1.hal+json",
            "resource-type": "customer"
        },
        "receive": {
            "href": "https://api-sandbox.dwolla.com/transfers",
            "type": "application/vnd.dwolla.v1.hal+json",
            "resource-type": "transfer"
        },
        "edit-form": {
            "href": "https://api-sandbox.dwolla.com/customers/d56c07fa-3832-427d-bb88-a9eb2d375c14",
            "type": "application/vnd.dwolla.v1.hal+json; profile=\"https://github.com/dwolla/hal-forms\"",
            "resource-type": "customer"
        },
        "edit": {
            "href": "https://api-sandbox.dwolla.com/customers/d56c07fa-3832-427d-bb88-a9eb2d375c14",
            "type": "application/vnd.dwolla.v1.hal+json",
            "resource-type": "customer"
        },
        "certify-beneficial-ownership": {
            "href": "https://api-sandbox.dwolla.com/customers/d56c07fa-3832-427d-bb88-a9eb2d375c14/beneficial-ownership",
            "type": "application/vnd.dwolla.v1.hal+json",
            "resource-type": "beneficial-ownership"
        },
        "funding-sources": {
            "href": "https://api-sandbox.dwolla.com/customers/d56c07fa-3832-427d-bb88-a9eb2d375c14/funding-sources",
            "type": "application/vnd.dwolla.v1.hal+json",
            "resource-type": "funding-source"
        },
        "transfers": {
            "href": "https://api-sandbox.dwolla.com/customers/d56c07fa-3832-427d-bb88-a9eb2d375c14/transfers",
            "type": "application/vnd.dwolla.v1.hal+json",
            "resource-type": "transfer"
        }
    },
    "id": "d56c07fa-3832-427d-bb88-a9eb2d375c14",
    "firstName": "Account",
    "lastName": "Admin",
    "email": "accountAdmin@email.com",
    "type": "business",
    "status": "verified",
    "created": "2018-04-26T19:11:41.290Z",
    "address1": "99-99 33rd St",
    "city": "Some City",
    "state": "NY",
    "postalCode": "11101",
    "businessName": "Jane Corp",
    "controller": {
        "firstName": "John",
        "lastName": "Controller",
        "title": "CEO",
        "address": {
            "address1": "1749 18th st",
            "address2": "apt 12",
            "city": "Des Moines",
            "stateProvinceRegion": "IA",
            "country": "US",
            "postalCode": "50266"
        }
    },
    "businessType": "llc",
    "businessClassification": "9ed3f670-7d6f-11e3-b1ce-5404a6144203"
}

You will want to ensure that both your Controller and your Business have been verified, as the Customer will be unable to send or receive funds until then. If the Customer is in retry or document status, head to the next step to learn how to handle these statuses.

Step 2 - Handling Business Verified Customer Statuses

You have successfully created a business verified Customer; however, there are cases where Dwolla will need more information to fully verify the identity of the Controller and/or Business. Read on to learn more.

If your Business and Controller are already identity verified, you can skip to the next step adding beneficial owners to continue with your business verified Customer onboarding.

Verification statuses and corresponding events

As a developer, you will want to handle the various Customer statuses that can be returned.

Customer status	Event Topic Name	Transaction restricted?	Description
verified	customer_verified	No	The identifying information submitted was sufficient in verifying the Customer account.
retry	customer_reverification_needed	Yes - Cannot send funds	The initial identity verification attempt failed because the information provided did not satisfy Dwolla’s verification check. You can make one additional attempt by changing some or all the attributes of the existing Customer with a POST request. All fields are required on the retry attempt. If the additional attempt fails, the resulting status will be either `document` or `suspended`.
document	customer_verification_document_needed	Yes - Cannot send funds	Dwolla requires additional documentation to identify the Customer in the document status. Once a document is uploaded it will be reviewed for verification.
suspended	customer_suspended	Yes - Cannot send or receive funds	The Customer is suspended and may neither send nor receive funds. Contact Account Management for more information.

Understanding Verification Directives

When further action is required for a Business Verified Customer to become verified, the Dwolla API includes Verification Directives in the _embedded.errors array of the Retrieve a Customer response. These directives explain the outstanding requirements for verification, provide actionable instructions, and include hypermedia links (_links) to enable resolution. By parsing and utilizing these directives, you can build a dynamic and user-friendly interface that guides your end-users through the necessary steps, minimizing onboarding friction and reducing support overhead.

See how to simulate these verification directives in the Sandbox testing guide.

Structure of a Verification Directive

Each object within the _embedded.errors array represents a single Verification Directive and follows this structure:

{
  "code": "ErrorCode",
  "message": "Human-readable explanation and instructions for resolution.",
  "_links": {
    "action-link": {
      // e.g., "update-customer", "upload-ein-document"
      "href": "URL to perform the required action",
      "type": "application/vnd.dwolla.v1.hal+json"
    }
  }
}

code: A specific, machine-readable string identifying the type of verification issue. Use this code in your application logic to handle different error scenarios.
message: A human-readable string explaining the issue and providing guidance on how to resolve it. This message is intended to help you inform your end-users about the required actions.
_links: A HATEOAS object containing relevant links. This typically includes a link to the API resource needed to address the directive, such as updating the Customer resource or uploading a specific document type. The key of the link (e.g., “update-customer”, “upload-ein-document”) often indicates the required action. An empty _links object may be returned if no direct API action corresponds to the directive (e.g., for AdditionalReviewRequired).

Verification Directives

The following table lists common verification directives you may encounter for Business Verified Customers, along with their meaning and typical required actions:

Code	Message	Primary Action(s)
Required	Full SSN required.	Retry Customer verification with full SSN
POBoxNotAllowed	Business addresses must be physical street addresses. PO Boxes are not allowed. Please update to a physical address.	Update Customer Address
AddressNotAssociatedWithBusiness	The business address provided does not match information in public records. Please update to a valid business address or upload proof of address documentation.	Update Customer Address OR Upload Proof of Address
ResidentialAddressRequired	Invalid address type for controller. Residential address required. Please enter a valid residential address for the controller. Please note, PO Boxes cannot be used for verification purposes.	Update Controller Address
AdditionalReviewRequired	Account verification is now under review. This review can take up to 2-3 business days. An account update event will detail the verification status and any required actions.	Wait for Update Event (No immediate API action)
EINMismatch	The provided Employer Identification Number (EIN) does not match the EIN on the business documentation previously uploaded for verification. Please update the EIN to match the EIN letter or official business document provided.	Update Customer EIN
LegalDBAMismatch	Business name and Doing Business As (DBA) do not match the uploaded documentation. Please correct the Legal/Registered Name and DBA fields to align with the documentation provided.	Update Customer Legal Name/DBA Name
BusinessDBAMismatch	The provided Doing Business As (DBA) name does not match the business documentation. Please correct the DBA Name to align with the documentation provided.	Update Customer DBA Name
BusinessAddressDocRequired	Proof of business address is required. Please upload a document showing the business name and address as registered (e.g., Utility Bill, Financial Statement, Tax Statement, Lease Agreement).	Upload Business Address Document
EINDocumentRequired	EIN Letter is required to verify the business. Please upload an EIN assignment letter or an official business document showing the full business name and EIN.	Upload EIN Document
BusinessFormationDocRequired	Business formation documents are required to verify good standing. Please upload Articles of Organization/Incorporation from the state of registration.	Upload Business Formation Document
PersonalIDRequired	Personal ID is required for account verification. Please upload a valid personal ID.	Upload Personal ID Document
CoWorkingAddress	The provided business address is a co-working location. Please provide a proof of address document for this location or update to a residential address if operating remotely (e.g., Utility Bill, Financial Statement, Tax Statement, Lease Agreement).	Upload Business Address Document OR Update Address
RegisteredAgentAddressNotAllowed	The provided business address leads to a Registered Agent, not the business itself. Please update to a physical business address or, if the business is remote, use the residential address of the Controller or a Beneficial Owner.	Update Customer Address
SOSNotInGoodStanding	We could not verify that this business is in good standing with the Secretary of State for the registered state. All business entities must be active and in good standing to proceed.	Update Customer Information
ForeignPassportNumberRequired	A foreign passport has been provided for verification of the controller. Please provide the foreign passport number to complete the verification process.	Update Controller Info
SOSStateMismatch	We could not verify the state in which this business is registered. Please update the business address to ensure it matches the registered state.	Update Customer Address
BusinessNameMismatch	The provided business name does not match the name on the uploaded business documentation. Please update the business name to match the uploaded document.	Update Customer Legal Name

Example Retrieve Customer response

Here’s an example of how the _embedded.errors array might look in a GET /customers/{id} response when multiple issues require attention:

// Example GET /customers/41432759-6d65-42e5-a6be-400ddd103b78
{
  "_links": {
    // ... other customer links
  },
  "_embedded": {
    "errors": [
      {
        "code": "POBoxNotAllowed",
        "message": "Business addresses must be physical street addresses. PO Boxes are not allowed. Please update to a physical address.",
        "_links": {
          "retry-verification": {
            "href": "https://api-sandbox.dwolla.com/customers/41432759-6d65-42e5-a6be-400ddd103b78"
            // type property omitted for brevity
          }
        }
      },
      {
        "code": "Required",
        "message": "Full SSN required",
        "path": "",
        "_links": {
          "retry-with-full-ssn": {
            "href": "https://api-sandbox.dwolla.com/customers/41432759-6d65-42e5-a6be-400ddd103b78",
            "type": "application/vnd.dwolla.v1.hal+json",
            "resource-type": "customer"
          }
        }
      }
    ]
  },
  "status": "retry"
  // ... other customer properties
}

Handling Multiple Directives

As demonstrated in the example response above, the _embedded.errors array can contain multiple Verification Directive objects simultaneously if several issues require attention. Your application should iterate through the entire errors array, presenting the guidance from each message to the end-user and providing access to all corresponding actions via the _links. Addressing all listed directives is necessary for the user to successfully complete the verification process.

Handling `retry` status

A retry status occurs when a Customer’s identity scores are too low during a verification attempt. Typically, a retry status occurs after the initial creation of a business-verified customer, however, a customer can also be placed into a retry status via the Dwolla Dashboard if the customer is in a document status. When the customer is in the retry status, your application needs to re-initiate the verification process by prompting the user via a form to resubmit their identifying information.

You need to gather new information if the Customer is placed into the retry status; simply passing the same information will result in the same insufficient scores.

Determining information needed to retry verification

When a business verified Customer is placed in the retry verification status, Dwolla will return a link in the API response after retrieving a Customer. The retry link contained within the _links object of the response helps your application determine if a retry is needed and what type of retry is required. What data you need to request from the customer depends on the retry scenario:

Business-only retry: A retry-verification link is returned. Include all fields required during initial customer but omit Controller information. For business verified Customers with Controllers, different links can be returned depending on whether retry is needed for just the business, or both the Controller and business.
Controller and business retry: A retry-with-full-ssn link is returned. If the Controller information needs to be retried, all fields that were required in the initial Customer creation attempt will be required in the retry attempt, along with the full 9-digit SSN of the Controller in order to give our identity vendor more information in an attempt to receive a sufficient score to approve the Customer account (see example request below).

Understanding _embedded errors

Additionally, _embedded errors are included in the Customer resource which include information about the next steps required to get the Customer verified (see example response below). Refer to the table below for the list of possible links and their descriptions.

Link name	Description
retry-verification	Identifies if retry information is needed for the business.
retry-with-full-ssn	Identifies if retry information is needed for both the Controller and business.

Example response

{
  "_links": {
    "self": {
      "href": "https://api-sandbox.dwolla.com/customers/20c2d8e2-8ccf-42fd-bd9e-757c396f342d",
      "type": "application/vnd.dwolla.v1.hal+json",
      "resource-type": "customer"
    },
    "retry-verification": {
      "href": "https://api-sandbox.dwolla.com/customers/20c2d8e2-8ccf-42fd-bd9e-757c396f342d",
      "type": "application/vnd.dwolla.v1.hal+json",
      "resource-type": "customer"
    },
    "retry-with-full-ssn": {
      "href": "https://api-sandbox.dwolla.com/customers/20c2d8e2-8ccf-42fd-bd9e-757c396f342d",
      "type": "application/vnd.dwolla.v1.hal+json",
      "resource-type": "customer"
    }
  },
  "_embedded": {
    "errors": [
      {
        "code": "Required",
        "message": "Full SSN required",
        "path": "",
        "_links": {
          "retry-with-full-ssn": {
            "href": "https://api-sandbox.dwolla.com/customers/20c2d8e2-8ccf-42fd-bd9e-757c396f342d",
            "type": "application/vnd.dwolla.v1.hal+json",
            "resource-type": "customer"
          }
        }
      }
    ]
  },
  "id": "20c2d8e2-8ccf-42fd-bd9e-757c396f342d",
  "firstName": "Account",
  "lastName": "Admin",
  "email": "accountAdmin@email.com",
  "type": "business",
  "status": "retry",
  "created": "2024-02-20T22:53:00.727Z",
  "address1": "9876 Million Dollar St",
  "address2": "Unit 123",
  "city": "Des Moines",
  "state": "IA",
  "postalCode": "50265",
  "phone": "5555555555",
  "businessName": "Jane Corp",
  "doingBusinessAs": "This is the DBA name",
  "website": "https://www.dwolla.com",
  "correlationId": "CID-bc3b6cd8-fca0-471d-b6f2-4b10abb20956",
  "controller": {
    "firstName": "Jane",
    "lastName": "Doe",
    "title": "CEO",
    "address": {
      "address1": "1749 18th st",
      "address2": "apt 12",
      "address3": "Ste 123",
      "city": "Des Moines",
      "stateProvinceRegion": "IA",
      "country": "US",
      "postalCode": "50266"
    }
  },
  "businessType": "llc",
  "businessClassification": "9ed38155-7d6f-11e3-83c3-5404a6144203"
}

Sole Proprietorship (`retry-verification`) - Request and response

POST https://api-sandbox.dwolla.com/customers/62c3aa1b-3a1b-46d0-ae90-17304d60c3d5
Content-Type: application/vnd.dwolla.v1.hal+json
Accept: application/vnd.dwolla.v1.hal+json
Authorization: Bearer 0Sn0W6kzNic+oWhDbQcVSKLRUpGjIdl/YyrHqrDDoRnQwE7Q

{
    "firstName": "Business",
    "lastName": "Owner",
    "email": "solePropBusiness@email.com",
    "ipAddress": "143.156.7.8",
    "type": "business",
    "dateOfBirth": "1980-01-31",
    "ssn": "123-45-6789",
    "address1": "99-99 33rd St",
    "city": "Some City",
    "state": "NY",
    "postalCode": "11101",
    "businessClassification": "9ed3f670-7d6f-11e3-b1ce-5404a6144203",
    "businessType": "soleProprietorship",
    "businessName":"Jane Corp",
    "ein":"00-0000000"
}

Business with Controller (`retry-verification`) - Request and response

POST https://api-sandbox.dwolla.com/customers/62c3aa1b-3a1b-46d0-ae90-17304d60c3d5
Content-Type: application/vnd.dwolla.v1.hal+json
Accept: application/vnd.dwolla.v1.hal+json
Authorization: Bearer 0Sn0W6kzNic+oWhDbQcVSKLRUpGjIdl/YyrHqrDDoRnQwE7Q

{
    "firstName": "Jane",
    "lastName": "Merchant",
    "email": "accountAdmin@email.com",
    "ipAddress": "143.156.7.8",
    "type": "business",
    "address1": "123 Corrected Address St",
    "city": "Some City",
    "state": "NY",
    "postalCode": "11101",
    "businessClassification": "9ed3f670-7d6f-11e3-b1ce-5404a6144203",
    "businessType": "llc",
    "businessName":"Jane Corp",
    "ein":"00-0000000"
}

Business with Controller (`retry-with-full-ssn`) - Request and response

POST https://api-sandbox.dwolla.com/customers/62c3aa1b-3a1b-46d0-ae90-17304d60c3d5
Content-Type: application/vnd.dwolla.v1.hal+json
Accept: application/vnd.dwolla.v1.hal+json
Authorization: Bearer 0Sn0W6kzNic+oWhDbQcVSKLRUpGjIdl/YyrHqrDDoRnQwE7Q

{
    "firstName": "Jane",
    "lastName": "Merchant",
    "email": "accountAdmin@email.com",
    "ipAddress": "143.156.7.8",
    "type": "business",
    "address1": "123 Corrected Address St",
    "city": "Some City",
    "state": "NY",
    "postalCode": "11101",
    "controller": {
        "firstName": "John",
        "lastName": "Controller",
        "title": "CEO",
        "dateOfBirth": "1980-01-01",
        "ssn": "123-45-6789",
        "address": {
            "address1": "1749 18th st",
            "address2": "apt 12",
            "city": "Des Moines",
            "stateProvinceRegion": "IA",
            "postalCode": "50266",
            "country": "US"
        }
    },
    "businessClassification": "9ed3f670-7d6f-11e3-b1ce-5404a6144203",
    "businessType": "llc",
    "businessName":"Jane Corp",
    "ein":"00-0000000"
}

Handling `document` status

If the Customer has a status of document, the Customer will need to upload additional pieces of information in order to verify the account. Use the create a document endpoint when uploading a colored camera captured image of the identifying document. The document(s) will then be reviewed by Dwolla; this review may take up to 1-2 business days to approve or reject. You can provide the following best practices to the Customer in order to reduce the chances of a document being rejected:

Only images of the front of an ID
All 4 edges of the document should be visible
A dark/high contrast background should be used
At least 90% of the image should be the document
Should be at least 300dpi
Capture image from directly above the document
Make sure that the image is properly aligned, not rotated, tilted or skewed
No flash to reduce glare
No black and white documents
No expired IDs

Determining verification documents needed

When a business verified Customer is placed in the document verification status, Dwolla will return a link in the API response after retrieving a Customer, which will be used by an application to determine if documentation is needed. For business verified Customers, different links can be returned depending on whether or not documents are needed for a Controller, the business, both the Controller and business, or for the DBA (Doing Business As). Additionally, embedded errors are included in the Customer resource which include information about the next steps required to get the Customer verified (see example response below). Refer to the table below for the list of possible links and their description. Refer to the acceptable document types section for more information on what types of documents are accepted for businesses and Controllers.

Link name	Description
verify-with-document	Identifies if documents are needed only for a Controller.
verify-business-with-document	Identifies if documents are needed only for a business.
verify-controller-and-business-with-document	Identifies if documents are needed for both the Controller and business.
upload-dba-document	Identifies if documents are needed for a business’s DBA (Doing Business As).

Example response

{
  "_links": {
    "self": {
      "href": "https://api-sandbox.dwolla.com/customers/41432759-6d65-42e5-a6be-400ddd103b78",
      "type": "application/vnd.dwolla.v1.hal+json",
      "resource-type": "customer"
    },
    "document-form": {
      "href": "https://api-sandbox.dwolla.com/customers/41432759-6d65-42e5-a6be-400ddd103b78/documents",
      "type": "application/vnd.dwolla.v1.hal+json; profile=\"https://github.com/dwolla/hal-forms\"",
      "resource-type": "document"
    },
    "upload-dba-document": {
      "href": "https://api-sandbox.dwolla.com/customers/41432759-6d65-42e5-a6be-400ddd103b78/documents",
      "type": "application/vnd.dwolla.v1.hal+json",
      "resource-type": "document"
    }
  },
  "_embedded": {
    "errors": [
      {
        "code": "Required",
        "message": "DBA (Doing Business As) document upload required",
        "_links": {
          "upload-dba-document": {
            "href": "https://api-sandbox.dwolla.com/customers/41432759-6d65-42e5-a6be-400ddd103b78/documents"
          }
        }
      }
    ]
  },
  "id": "41432759-6d65-42e5-a6be-400ddd103b78",
  "firstName": "Account",
  "lastName": "Admin",
  "email": "accountAdmin@email.com",
  "type": "business",
  "status": "document",
  "created": "2018-05-10T19:59:22.643Z",
  "address1": "66 Walnut St",
  "city": "Des Moines",
  "state": "IA",
  "postalCode": "50309",
  "businessName": "Jane Corp",
  "controller": {
    "firstName": "document",
    "lastName": "Controller",
    "title": "CEO",
    "address": {
      "address1": "1749 18th st",
      "address2": "apt 12",
      "city": "Des Moines",
      "stateProvinceRegion": "IA",
      "country": "US",
      "postalCode": "50266"
    }
  },
  "businessClassification": "9ed3f670-7d6f-11e3-b1ce-5404a6144203",
  "businessType": "llc"
}

Document Types

Controllers

US persons: A colored camera captured image of the Controller’s identifying document can be specified as documentType: license (state issued driver’s license), or idCard (U.S. government-issued photo id card). Supported Document Examples:

Non-expired State Issued Driver’s License/Identification Card
Non-expired US Passport
Federal Employment Authorization Card
US Visa

Unsupported Document Examples:

Military IDs
Expired government-issued IDs

Non-US persons: A colored camera captured image of the Controller’s identifying document can be specified as documentType: passport. Examples include:

Non-expired Foreign Passport Note: Foreign Passports are only accepted when the individual does not have an ITIN or SSN and the user must alternatively enter the Passport number.

Businesses

Documents that are used to help identify a business are specified as documentType other. Note: A DBA document should be issued by the government and should include the DBA name along with the state registered business name. Business Identifying documents we recommend uploading can include the following:

Partnership, General Partnership: EIN Letter (IRS-issued SS4 confirmation letter).
Limited Liability Corporation (LLC), Corporation: EIN Letter (IRS-issued SS4 confirmation letter).
Sole Proprietorship: Sole Proprietorships can be verified by uploading Business documents as well as Personal IDs. Personal IDs need to be specified as documentType idCard, license or passport depending on the type of the ID. Business documents need to be specified as documentType other. Acceptable documents include one or more of the following, as applicable to your sole proprietorship:
- Business documents (documentType other):
  - Fictitious Business Name Statement,
  - Certificate of Assumed Name; Business License,
  - Sales/Use Tax License,
  - Registration of Trade Name,
  - EIN documentation (IRS-issued SS4 confirmation letter)
- Personal documents (documentType license, passport or idCard):
  - Color copy of a valid government-issued photo ID (e.g., a driver’s license, passport, or state ID card).

Trusts should be created as Sole Proprietor accounts and will require signed trust documents that include the trust and username that are on file.

Other business documents may be acceptable on a case by case basis with Dwolla approval. These include any US government entity (federal, state, local) issued business formation or licensing exhibiting the name of the business enrolling with Dwolla, or; Any business formation documents exhibiting the name of the business entity in addition to being filed and stamped by a US government entity. Examples include:

Filed and stamped Articles of Organization or Incorporation
Sales/Use Tax License
Business License
Certificate of Good Standing

Proof of address

If Dwolla’s Compliance team is unable to find an external connection to confirm the user does in fact conduct business at their provided business address, a “proof of address” will be required. Proof of address are any of the following, current documents that show the address in question:

Utility Bill
Financial Statement
Tax Statement (Please note - Form W-9 is a tax form, and is not an acceptable Tax Statement)
Fully Executed Lease Agreement - must be valid for a minimum of the next 30 days.

Uploading a document

To upload a color photo of the document, you’ll initiate a multipart form-data POST request from your backend server to https://api.dwolla.com/customers/{id}/documents. The file must be either a .jpg, .jpeg, or .png. Files must be no larger than 10MB in size. Additionally, Business Documents can also be uploaded in a .pdf format. You’ll also get a with a customer_verification_document_uploaded event to let you know the document was successfully uploaded.

Request and response

curl -X POST
\ -H "Authorization: Bearer tJlyMNW6e3QVbzHjeJ9JvAPsRglFjwnba4NdfCzsYJm7XbckcR"
\ -H "Accept: application/vnd.dwolla.v1.hal+json"
\ -H "Cache-Control: no-cache"
\ -H "Content-Type: multipart/form-data; boundary=----WebKitFormBoundary7MA4YWxkTrZu0gW"
\ -F "documentType=passport"
\ -F "file=@foo.png"
\ 'https://api-sandbox.dwolla.com/customers/132681fa-1b4d-4181-8ff2-619ca46235b1/documents

If the document was successfully uploaded, the response will be a HTTP 201 Created with the URL of the new document resource contained in the Location header.

HTTP/1.1 201 Created
Location: https://api-sandbox.dwolla.com/documents/11fe0bab-39bd-42ee-bb39-275afcc050d0

Document review process

Once created, the document will be reviewed by Dwolla. When our team has made a decision to approve or reject, which may take up to 1-2 business days, we’ll create either a customer_verification_document_approved or customer_verification_document_failed event. If the document was sufficient, the Customer may be verified in this process. If not, we may need additional documentation. Note: Reference the determining verification documents needed section for more information on determining if additional documents are needed after an approved or failed event is triggered. If the document was found to be fraudulent or doesn’t match the identity of the Customer, the Customer will be suspended.

Document failure

A document can fail if, for example, the Customer uploaded the wrong type of document or the .jpg or .png file supplied was not readable (i.e. blurry, not well lit, not in color, or cuts off a portion of the identifying image). If you receive a customer_verification_document_failed webhook, you’ll need to upload another document. To retrieve the failure reason for the document upload, you’ll retrieve the document by its ID. Contained in the response will be a failureReason field which corresponds to one or more of the following values. In case of a failure due to multiple reasons, an additional allFailureReasons of reasons and descriptions is also returned:

Failure reason	Description	Detailed description
`BusinessDocNotSupported`	Business document not supported	The business document provided is not supported for verification. Please request approved business documentation from the end user for verification.
`BusinessNameMismatch`	Business name on account does not match document	The legal business name listed in the documentation uploaded does not match the Registered Business Name on the account. The account has been moved to retry so that the business name listed at the account level can be adjusted to match the business documentation which was uploaded.
`BusinessTypeMismatch`	Business type chosen does not match document	Based on the documentation provided, the entity type for this business should be created as a/an (LLC, Corporation, Sole Prop). The account has been moved to retry so that the correct business type (LLC, Corporation, Sole Prop etc.) can be submitted.
`ScanDobMismatch`	Scan DOB does not match DOB on account	The DOB listed on the ID uploaded does not match the DOB on the user’s account. The account has been placed in retry so that the user can adjust the DOB listed on the account to match the ID which was provided.
`ScanFailedOther`	ID may be fraudulent or a generic example ID image	The ID uploaded may be fraudulent or a generic example of an ID. The user needs to upload a valid ID to proceed with account verification.
`ScanIdExpired`	ID is expired or missing expiration date	The ID uploaded by the user is expired. The user will need to upload a non-expired ID.
`ScanIdTypeNotSupported`	ID may be a military ID, firearm license, or other unsupported ID type	The uploaded ID is not an acceptable form of ID. Here is a list of ID types that Dwolla accepts for account verification.
`ScanIdUnrecognized`	ID is not recognized	The ID which has been uploaded is unreadable. The user will need to upload a new image of their ID to proceed with verification.
`ScanNameMismatch`	Scan name does not match name on account	The name listed on the ID which has been uploaded by the user does not match the name which is listed at the account level. The account has been placed in retry so that the user can adjust the name on the account to match the ID which was provided.
`ScanNotReadable`	Image blurry, too dark, or obscured by glare	The uploaded ID is blurry, cutoff, or unreadable. The user will need to upload a clear, color, camera-captured image of their ID to proceed with verification. Here are some best practices related to document uploads.
`ScanNotUploaded`	Scan not uploaded	The uploaded image is not an ID. The user will need to upload an image of a valid ID to proceed. Here is a list of valid ID’s that Dwolla accepts for account verification.

Request and response

GET https://api-sandbox.dwolla.com/documents/11fe0bab-39bd-42ee-bb39-275afcc050d0
Accept: application/vnd.dwolla.v1.hal+json
Authorization: Bearer tJlyMNW6e3QVbzHjeJ9JvAPsRglFjwnba4NdfCzsYJm7XbckcR

...

{
  "_links": {
    "self": {
      "href": "https://api-sandbox.dwolla.com/documents/11fe0bab-39bd-42ee-bb39-275afcc050d0"
    }
  },
  "id": "11fe0bab-39bd-42ee-bb39-275afcc050d0",
  "status": "reviewed",
  "type": "license",
  "created": "2016-01-29T21:22:22.000Z",
  "failureReason": "ScanNotReadable",
  "allFailureReasons": [
      {
          "reason": "ScanDobMismatch",
          "description": "Date of Birth mismatch"
      },
      {
          "reason": "ScanIdExpired",
          "description": "ID is expired"
      }
  ]
}

Handling status: suspended

If the Customer is suspended, there’s no further action you can take to correct this using the API. You’ll need to contact support@dwolla.com or your account manager for assistance. The successful creation of a business verified Customer and Controller doesn’t necessarily mean the Customer is fully verified and eligible to transfer. After successfully creating your business verified Customer, you will need to check to see if the beneficial ownership requirements apply to you. To learn how to add beneficial owner(s) to your Customer, read on in the next step.

Step 3 - Adding Beneficial Owner(s)

To help the government fight financial crime, the existing United States Federal customer due diligence rules were amended to clarify and strengthen customer due diligence requirements. The customer due diligence rule imposes a requirement for verifying the identity of beneficial owner(s) of Dwolla’s partners and users that are not natural persons. These legal entities can be abused to disguise involvement in terrorist financing, money laundering, tax evasion, corruption, fraud, and other financial crimes. Requiring the disclosure of key individuals who ultimately own or control a legal entity (i.e., the beneficial owners) helps law enforcement investigate and prosecute these crimes.

If your business is exempt or if there is no individual with at least 25% ownership, your Customer can go straight to certifying that there are no beneficial owners

How do I know what business structure is required to add Beneficial Owners?

If my Customer’s business structure is…	…are they required to add beneficial owners?
Sole proprietorships	No (exempt)
Unincorporated association	No (exempt)
Trust	No (exempt)
Corporation	Yes (if owns 25% or more)
Publicly traded corporations	No (exempt)
Non-profits	No (exempt)
LLCs	Yes (if owns 25% or more)
Partnerships, LP’s, LLP’s	Yes (if owns 25% or more)

Create a beneficial owner for a Business Verified Customer

To create a beneficial owner, use the create a beneficial owner endpoint.

Events

As a developer, you can expect these events to be triggered when a beneficial owner is successfully created and systematically verified:

customer_beneficial_owner_created
customer_beneficial_owner_verified

Request Parameters

Parameter	Required	Type	Description
firstName	yes	string	Legal first name of the Beneficial Owner. Must be ≤ 50 characters. Cannot contain numbers or special characters [<>="`!?%~${}\].
lastName	yes	string	Legal last name of the Beneficial Owner. Must be ≤ 50 characters. Cannot contain numbers or special characters [<>="`!?%~${}\].
ssn	conditional	string	Full 9-digit SSN required only for US persons. Must be exactly 9 digits (e.g., `123456789`). No dashes or separators.
dateOfBirth	yes	string	Date of birth of the Beneficial Owner. Formatted as `YYYY-MM-DD`. Must be between 18 to 125 years of age.
address	yes	object	Physical address of the Beneficial Owner. See Address JSON Object.
passport	conditional	object	Required for non-US persons. Includes passport number and issuing country. See Passport JSON Object.

Address JSON object

Parameter	Required	Type	Description
address1	yes	string	First line of the street address of the Beneficial Owner’s permanent residence. PO Boxes are not allowed. Must be ≤ 50 characters and contain no special characters [<>="`!?%~${}\].
address2	no	string	Second line of the street address. PO Boxes are not allowed. Must be ≤ 50 characters and contain no special characters [<>="`!?%~${}\].
address3	no	string	Third line of the street address. PO Boxes are not allowed. Must be ≤ 50 characters and contain no special characters [<>="`!?%~${}\].
city	yes	string	City of the Beneficial Owner’s permanent residence. Must be ≤ 50 characters. Cannot contain numbers or special characters [<>="`!?%~${}\].
stateProvinceRegion	yes	string	US persons - Two-letter US state abbreviation of the Beneficial Owner’s physical address. See the US Postal Service guide. Non-US persons - Two-letter state, province, or region ISO abbreviation. If no two-letter abbreviation exists, use the country’s ISO 2-letter abbreviation. Must be uppercase (e.g., `CA`).
country	yes	string	Country of the Beneficial Owner’s permanent residence. Two-digit ISO country code (e.g., `US` for United States, `CA` for Canada). See the ISO country codes list.
postalCode	conditional	string	Postal code of the Beneficial Owner’s permanent residence. US persons must provide a 5-digit ZIP code (e.g., `50314`). Non-US persons - Optional, but may include alphanumeric postal codes where applicable.

Passport JSON object

Parameter	Required	Type	Description
number	conditional	string	Required if Beneficial Owner resides outside of the United States and has no Social Security Number. Must be ≤ 255 characters and contain no special characters [<>="`!?%~${}\].
country	conditional	string	Country of issued passport. Two-digit ISO country code (e.g., `US` for United States, `CA` for Canada). Must be 2 characters (ISO standard).

Request and Response

POST https://api-sandbox.dwolla.com/customers/07d59716-ef22-4fe6-98e8-f3190233dfb8/beneficial-owners
Content-Type: application/vnd.dwolla.v1.hal+json
Accept: application/vnd.dwolla.v1.hal+json
Authorization: Bearer pBA9fVDBEyYZCEsLf/wKehyh1RTpzjUj5KzIRfDi0wKTii7DqY

{
  "firstName": "Jane",
  "lastName": "Doe",
  "ssn": "123-56-7890",
  "dateOfBirth": "1960-11-30",
  "address": {
    "address1": "123 Main St.",
    "address2": "Apt 12",
    "city": "New York",
    "stateProvinceRegion": "NY",
    "country": "US",
    "postalCode": "10005"
  }
}

HTTP/1.1 201 Created
Location: https://api.dwolla.com/beneficial-owners/FC451A7A-AE30-4404-AB95-E3553FCD733F

Check the status of an individual Beneficial Owner

After a beneficial owner has been created, the beneficial owner’s identity needs to go through a verification process. A beneficial owner that has a status of incomplete or document will impact the business verified Customer’s eligibility to send or receive funds. When a beneficial owner has been successfully verified by Dwolla, the beneficial owner’s status will be set to verified. Reference the table below for more information on the events that correspond to each of the beneficial owner statuses:

Individual Beneficial Owner statuses and events

Individual Beneficial Owner Status	Event Topic Name	Transaction Restricted?	Description
Verified	customer_beneficial_owner_verified	No	Beneficial owner has been identity verified.
Document	customer_beneficial_owner_document_needed	Yes - Cannot send funds	Beneficial owner must upload a document in order to be verified.
Incomplete	customer_beneficial_owner_reverification_needed	Yes - Cannot send funds	The initial verification attempt failed because the information provided did not satisfy our verification check. You can make one additional attempt by changing some or all the attributes of the existing Customer with an update request.

Let’s check to see if the Owner was successfully verified or not. We are going to use the location of the Beneficial Owner resource that was just created.

Request and response - retrieve a beneficial owner status

GET https://api-sandbox.dwolla.com/beneficial-owners/07D59716-EF22-4FE6-98E8-F3190233DFB8
Accept: application/vnd.dwolla.v1.hal+json
Authorization: Bearer pBA9fVDBEyYZCEsLf/wKehyh1RTpzjUj5KzIRfDi0wKTii7DqY

...

{
    "_links": {
        "self": {
            "href": "https://api-sandbox.dwolla.com/beneficial-owners/00cb67f2-768c-4ee3-ac81-73bc4faf9c2b",
            "type": "application/vnd.dwolla.v1.hal+json",
            "resource-type": "beneficial-owner"
        },
        "retry-verification": {
            "href": "https://api-sandbox.dwolla.com/beneficial-owners/00cb67f2-768c-4ee3-ac81-73bc4faf9c2b",
            "type": "application/vnd.dwolla.v1.hal+json",
            "resource-type": "beneficial-owner"
        }
    },
    "id": "00cb67f2-768c-4ee3-ac81-73bc4faf9c2b",
    "firstName": "Jane",
    "lastName": "Owner",
    "address": {
        "address1": "123 Main St.",
        "city": "New York",
        "stateProvinceRegion": "NY",
        "country": "US",
        "postalCode": "10005"
    },
    "verificationStatus": "verified"
}

Handling an individual beneficial owner Status

Congrats! You have created a beneficial owner for a business verified Customer, however, the successful creation of a beneficial Owner doesn’t necessarily mean they are identity verified. You will want to ensure that the beneficial Owner is verified, as the business verified Customer will be unable to send or receive funds until the owner has a verified status.

Handling `incomplete` status

An incomplete status occurs when a beneficial owner’s identity scores are too low during the initial verification attempt. Dwolla will trigger a customer_beneficial_owner_reverification_needed event which notifies your application to prompt the Customer to submit another identity verification attempt for the beneficial owner. The second attempt will give our identity vendor more accurate information in an attempt to receive a sufficient score to approve the beneficial owner. The Customer will only have one opportunity to correct any mistakes.

You need to gather new information if the beneficial owner is placed into the incomplete status; simply passing the same information will result in the same insufficient scores. All fields that were required in the initial beneficial owner creation attempt will be required in the incomplete attempt.

Request and Response - update beneficial owner

POST https://api-sandbox.dwolla.com/beneficial-owners/07d59716-ef22-4fe6-98e8-f3190233dfb8
Content-Type: application/vnd.dwolla.v1.hal+json
Accept: application/vnd.dwolla.v1.hal+json
Authorization: Bearer pBA9fVDBEyYZCEsLf/wKehyh1RTpzjUj5KzIRfDi0wKTii7DqY

{
  "firstName": "beneficial",
  "lastName": "owner",
  "ssn": "123-54-6789",
  "dateOfBirth": "1963-11-11",
  "address": {
    "address1": "123 Corrected St.",
    "address2": "Apt 123",
    "city": "Des Moines",
    "stateProvinceRegion": "IA",
    "country": "US",
    "postalCode": "50309"
  }
}

...

{
    "_links": {
        "self": {
            "href": "https://api-sandbox.dwolla.com/beneficial-owners/07d59716-ef22-4fe6-98e8-f3190233dfb8",
            "type": "application/vnd.dwolla.v1.hal+json",
            "resource-type": "beneficial-owner"
        }
    },
    "id": "00cb67f2-768c-4ee3-ac81-73bc4faf9c2b",
    "firstName": "beneficial",
    "lastName": "owner",
    "address": {
        "address1": "123 Corrected St.",
        "address2": "Apt 123",
        "city": "Des Moines",
        "stateProvinceRegion": "IA",
        "country": "US",
        "postalCode": "50309"
    },
    "verificationStatus": "verified"
}

Check the beneficial owner’s status again. The beneficial owner will either be in the verified or document state of verification.

Handling `document` status

If a beneficial owner is not verified after being placed in incomplete status and submitting a second verification attempt, the only other state the beneficial owner can be in is document. If the beneficial owner has a status of document, they will need to upload additional pieces of information in order to verify their identity. Use the create a document endpoint when uploading a colored camera captured image of the identifying document. The document(s) will then be reviewed by Dwolla; this review may take anywhere from a few seconds up to 1-2 business days if manual verification is required to approve or reject. You can provide the following best practices to the Customer in order to reduce the chances of a document being rejected:

All 4 Edges of the document should be visible
A dark/high contrast background should be used
At least 90% of the image should be the document
Should be at least 300dpi
Capture image from directly above the document
Make sure that the image is properly aligned, not rotated, tilted or skewed
No flash to reduce glare
No black and white documents
No expired IDs

Determining verification `documents` needed

US persons

A colored camera captured image of the Beneficial Owner’s identifying document can be specified as documentType: license (state issued driver’s license), or idCard (U.S. government-issued photo id card). Examples include:

Non-expired State Issued Driver’s License/Identification Card
Non-expired US Passport
Federal Employment Authorization Card
US Visa

Non-US persons

A colored camera captured image of the Beneficial Owner’s identifying document can be specified as documentType: passport. Examples include:

Non-expired Foreign Passport Note: Foreign Passports are only accepted when the individual does not have an ITIN or SSN and the user must alternatively enter the Passport number.

Uploading a document

To upload a color photo of the document, you’ll initiate a multipart form-data POST request from your backend server to the beneficial owners documents endpoint. The file must be either a .jpg, .jpeg, or .png. Files must be no larger than 10MB in size. You’ll also get a beneficial_owner_verification_document_uploaded event to let you know the document was successfully uploaded.

Request and Response

curl -X POST
\ -H "Authorization: Bearer tJlyMNW6e3QVbzHjeJ9JvAPsRglFjwnba4NdfCzsYJm7XbckcR"
\ -H "Accept: application/vnd.dwolla.v1.hal+json"
\ -H "Cache-Control: no-cache"
\ -H "Content-Type: multipart/form-data; boundary=----WebKitFormBoundary7MA4YWxkTrZu0gW"
\ -F "documentType=passport"
\ -F "file=@foo.png"
\ 'https://api-sandbox.dwolla.com/beneficial-owners/1de32ec7-ff0b-4c0c-9f09-19629e6788ce/documents'

...

HTTP/1.1 201 Created
Location: https://api-sandbox.dwolla.com/documents/11fe0bab-39bd-42ee-bb39-275afcc050d0

Update Beneficial Owner Information

Information can only be edited or updated when the Beneficial Owner has a status of incomplete. If an individual beneficial owner with a status of verified needs to update their information, that beneficial owner will first need to be removed and re-added.

Request and Response

DELETE https://api-sandbox.dwolla.com/beneficial-owners/692486f8-29f6-4516-a6a5-c69fd2ce854c
Accept: application/vnd.dwolla.v1.hal+json
Authorization: Bearer pBA9fVDBEyYZCEsLf/wKehyh1RTpzjUj5KzIRfDi0wKTii7DqY

...

{
    "_links": {
        "self": {
            "href": "https://api-sandbox.dwolla.com/beneficial-owners/0f394602-d714-4d77-9d58-3a3e8394bcdd",
            "type": "application/vnd.dwolla.v1.hal+json",
            "resource-type": "beneficial-owner"
        }
    },
    "id": "0f394602-d714-4d77-9d58-3a3e8394bcdd",
    "firstName": "B",
    "lastName": "Owner",
    "address": {
        "address1": "123 Main St.",
        "city": "New York",
        "stateProvinceRegion": "NY",
        "country": "US",
        "postalCode": "10005"
    },
    "verificationStatus": "verified"
}

...

HTTP 200 OK

After removal of a Beneficial Owner, they can be re-added and go through the verification process again. You can also remove a beneficial owner if they no longer own 25% or more of the business. The successful creation and verification of a beneficial owner doesn’t necessarily mean the business verified Customer is verified and ready to send or receive funds. The final step in creating a business verified Customer is to certify that all information provided is correct. Read on to view the procedures on how to certify your owners. To learn how to certify beneficial owners to your Customer, read on to the next step.

Step 4 - Certify Beneficial Ownership

In order for your business verified Customer to be eligible to send funds, the individual creating the business verified Customer account must certify beneficial owner(s). By certifying that all beneficial owner information is correct, the requirements imposed by the United States Federal customer due diligence rule and Dwolla will be successfully fulfilled. Certification of beneficial owners should be included as part of the Customer account registration and immediately following the creation of the business Verified Customer and the addition of all owners (unless exempt).

How do I know what business structure is required to certify Beneficial Ownership?

If my Customer’s business structure is…	…are they required to certify beneficial ownership?
Sole proprietorships	No (exempt)
Unincorporated association	No (exempt)
Trust	No (exempt)
Corporation	Yes
Publicly traded corporations	Yes
Non-profits	Yes
LLCs	Yes
Partnerships, LP’s, LLP’s	Yes

Determining Certification needed

When a business verified Customer needs to be certified, Dwolla will return a link in the API response after retrieving a Customer. If no certification link is returned, the Customer is either already certified, or is exempt from certification.

Link name	Description
certify-beneficial-ownership	Indicates that `certification` is required for this Customer

Example response

{
  "_links": {
    "self": {
      "href": "https://api-sandbox.dwolla.com/customers/41432759-6d65-42e5-a6be-400ddd103b78",
      "type": "application/vnd.dwolla.v1.hal+json",
      "resource-type": "customer"
    },
    "certify-beneficial-ownership": {
      "href": "https://api-sandbox.dwolla.com/customers/41432759-6d65-42e5-a6be-400ddd103b78/beneficial-ownership",
      "type": "application/vnd.dwolla.v1.hal+json",
      "resource-type": "beneficial-ownership"
    }
  },
  "id": "41432759-6d65-42e5-a6be-400ddd103b78",
  "firstName": "Account",
  "lastName": "Admin",
  "email": "accountAdmin@email.com",
  "type": "business",
  "status": "document",
  "created": "2018-05-10T19:59:22.643Z",
  "address1": "66 Walnut St",
  "city": "Des Moines",
  "state": "IA",
  "postalCode": "50309",
  "businessName": "Jane Corp",
  "controller": {
    "firstName": "Jim",
    "lastName": "Controller",
    "title": "CEO",
    "address": {
      "address1": "1749 18th st",
      "address2": "apt 12",
      "city": "Des Moines",
      "stateProvinceRegion": "IA",
      "country": "US",
      "postalCode": "50266"
    }
  },
  "businessClassification": "9ed3f670-7d6f-11e3-b1ce-5404a6144203",
  "businessType": "llc"
}

Certification Statuses

certification_status	Transaction Restricted?	Description
uncertified	Yes - Cannot send funds	New business verified Customers that are not exempt are initially placed in an uncertified status.
recertify	No, for up to 30 days	Business verified Customers that are certified and change owner information, OR Business verified Customers that Dwolla needs to obtain more information from relating to beneficial owners are placed in this status.
certified	No	Confirms the certification of beneficial owners.

Certify ownership

To change the certification status of your business verified Customer account, you will want to POST to the beneficial ownership endpoint. By updating the certification status to certified, the Account Admin creating the business verified Customer is indicating that all information is correct. After the Account Admin certifies that the information provided is accurate and the information the Account Admin submitted has been verified through the identity verified process, your business verified Customer is now ready to transact within the Dwolla network.

POST https://api-sandbox.dwolla.com/customers/56502f7a-fa59-4a2f-8579-0f8bc9d7b9cc/beneficial-ownership
Accept: application/vnd.dwolla.v1.hal+json
Content-Type: application/vnd.dwolla.v1.hal+json
Authorization: Bearer pBA9fVDBEyYZCEsLf/wKehyh1RTpzjUj5KzIRfDi0wKTii7DqY

{
  "status": "certified"
}

...

{
    "_links": {
        "self": {
            "href": "https://api-sandbox.dwolla.com/customers/56502f7a-fa59-4a2f-8579-0f8bc9d7b9cc/beneficial-ownership",
            "type": "application/vnd.dwolla.v1.hal+json",
            "resource-type": "beneficial-ownership"
        }
    },
    "status": "certified"
}

Certification Text Example

Example for certification is as follows:

"I,____ (name of Account Admin), hereby certify, to the best of my knowledge,
that the information provided above is complete and correct."

Handling `recertify` status

If you are adding, removing, or updating information of beneficial owners tied to a business verified Customer account, the certification status will change to recertify. Instances that you will see your certified business verified Customer change to recertify are as follows:

Adding a beneficial owner
Removing a beneficial owner
Updating a beneficial owner in incomplete status

When a Customer has a recertify beneficial ownership status, they will have up to thirty days to update and verify their beneficial owners’ information and update their status to certified. If the certification status isn’t updated within this timeframe, the business verified Customer will have its certification_status changed to uncertified, leaving the Customer unable to transact.

Frequently Asked Questions

Customer Eligibility

Q: How do I determine if my Customer is fully verified and eligible to start transacting?

Q: My Customer has a retry status. What activity would they be able to engage in while being in retry status, as it relates to the Dwolla Platform?

Q: My Customer has a document status. What activity would they be able to engage in while being in document status, as it relates to the Dwolla Platform?

Q: My Customer has a deactivated or suspended status. What activity would they be able to engage in while being in deactivated or suspended status, as it relates to the Dwolla Platform?

Q: My Customer has a verified status, but is unable to send funds. Why is this?

Q: Can I change a Business Verified Customer type to an Unverified Customer type?

Q: My Customer has a document status. Can I submit more than one document via the API?

Q: My end user is not a US resident, can they still create a Personal Verified Customer via the API to access my application?

Beneficial Owner Eligibility

Q: My Business Verified Customer is `verified` and my Beneficial Owners are `verified` but they cannot send funds. Why is this?

Q: One of my Business Verified Customer's Beneficial Owners is not yet in a `verified` status. What is my Customer's eligibility for certain actions with Dwolla?

Q: When should my Beneficial Owner use `ssn`? When should they use the `passport`?

Introduction

Getting Started

Quickstarts

Customers

Funding Sources

Transfers

Integrations

Webhooks & Notifications

​Overview

​Key Terminology

​Step 1 - Creating a Business Verified Customer

​Business Verified Customer Quick Guide

​Create a business verified Customer with no Controller

Events

​What parties are identity verified by Dwolla?

​Sole Propreietorship - Request parameters

​Sole Propreietorship - Request and response

​Create a business verified Customer with controller

​Events

​What parties are identity verified by Dwolla?

​Corporation, partnership, llc - Request parameters

Controller JSON object

Controller address JSON object

Controller passport JSON object

​Business with Controller - Request and response

​Check the status of the business Customer

​Request and response

​Step 2 - Handling Business Verified Customer Statuses

​Verification statuses and corresponding events

​Understanding Verification Directives

​Structure of a Verification Directive

​Verification Directives

Example Retrieve Customer response

​Handling Multiple Directives

​Handling retry status

​Determining information needed to retry verification

Understanding _embedded errors

Example response

​Sole Proprietorship (retry-verification) - Request and response

​Business with Controller (retry-verification) - Request and response

​Business with Controller (retry-with-full-ssn) - Request and response

​Handling document status

​Determining verification documents needed

Example response

​Document Types

Controllers

Businesses

Proof of address

​Uploading a document

​Request and response

​Document review process

​Document failure

Request and response

​Handling status: suspended

​Step 3 - Adding Beneficial Owner(s)

​How do I know what business structure is required to add Beneficial Owners?

​Create a beneficial owner for a Business Verified Customer

Events

Request Parameters

Address JSON object

Passport JSON object

Request and Response

​Check the status of an individual Beneficial Owner

Individual Beneficial Owner statuses and events

Request and response - retrieve a beneficial owner status

​Handling an individual beneficial owner Status

​Handling incomplete status

​Request and Response - update beneficial owner

​Handling document status

​Determining verification documents needed

US persons

Non-US persons

​Uploading a document

Request and Response

​Update Beneficial Owner Information

​Request and Response

​Step 4 - Certify Beneficial Ownership

​How do I know what business structure is required to certify Beneficial Ownership?

​Determining Certification needed

Example response

Overview

Key Terminology

Step 1 - Creating a Business Verified Customer

Business Verified Customer Quick Guide

Create a business verified Customer with no Controller

What parties are identity verified by Dwolla?

Sole Propreietorship - Request parameters

Sole Propreietorship - Request and response

Create a business verified Customer with controller

Events

What parties are identity verified by Dwolla?

Corporation, partnership, llc - Request parameters

Business with Controller - Request and response

Check the status of the business Customer

Request and response

Step 2 - Handling Business Verified Customer Statuses

Verification statuses and corresponding events

Understanding Verification Directives

Structure of a Verification Directive

Verification Directives

Handling Multiple Directives

Handling `retry` status

Determining information needed to retry verification

Sole Proprietorship (`retry-verification`) - Request and response

Business with Controller (`retry-verification`) - Request and response

Business with Controller (`retry-with-full-ssn`) - Request and response

Handling `document` status

Determining verification documents needed

Document Types

Uploading a document

Request and response

Document review process

Document failure

Handling status: suspended

Step 3 - Adding Beneficial Owner(s)

How do I know what business structure is required to add Beneficial Owners?

Create a beneficial owner for a Business Verified Customer

Check the status of an individual Beneficial Owner

Handling an individual beneficial owner Status

Handling `incomplete` status

Request and Response - update beneficial owner

Handling `document` status

Determining verification `documents` needed

Uploading a document

Update Beneficial Owner Information

Request and Response

Step 4 - Certify Beneficial Ownership

How do I know what business structure is required to certify Beneficial Ownership?

Determining Certification needed

Certification Statuses

Certify ownership

Certification Text Example

Handling `recertify` status

Frequently Asked Questions

Customer Eligibility

Beneficial Owner Eligibility